Jen Goodwin begins her third season at the helm of the Yale
softball program in 2014-15.

Goodwin has made an immediate impact at Yale. In her first year,
she guided a squad that belted a school record 31 home runs.
Goodwin also mentored catcher Sarah Onorato, who had one of the
finest seasons in school history. Onorato was named the Ivy
League Player of the Year, the first Yale player to win the award
since Seema Hingorani in 1991.

The Bulldogs also have shined in the classroom under
Goodwin, earning All-Academic Team honors from the NFCA in each of
her first two years.

Prior to Yale, Goodwin spent two years as the Assistant
Executive Director for the National Fastpitch Coaches
Association. At the NFCA, her primary duties included managing
the curriculum for the Association’s Coaches College,
developing the NFCA’s new recruiting tournaments, which
launched in the summer of 2011, and serving as the director of the
StrikeOut Cancer program which raised more the $250,000 in two
years.

Goodwin has extensive Ivy League coaching experience. She spent
two years as an assistant at Harvard, recruiting two-time Ivy
League Pitcher of the Year Rachel Brown and helping guide the
Crimson to the 2007 Ivy League title, and was Dartmouth’s
interim head coach in 2004.

“I truly believe in the Ivy League philosophy and all that
it stands for and couldn’t be more excited with all that Yale
has to offer," Goodwin said.

In her two years as an assistant to Jenny Allard at Harvard, the
Crimson won 56 games, including a 28-12 mark in Ivy League play,
and captured the North Division title each year. In 2007, Harvard
advanced to the NCAA Tournament, dropping a pair of one-run games
at the Hofstra Regional. In addition to recruiting Brown, who holds
virtually every Harvard pitching record, Goodwin worked closely
with Harvard’s hitters, who improved in every statistical
category both years.

“I pride myself on being a teacher of the
fundamentals,” Goodwin said. “I look forward to getting
into the cages with the hitters especially, working with them on
becoming more independent in the batter’s box, and handling
their failures. Everyone knows that even the best hitters fail
seven out of 10 at bats, so my approach with the hitters will be to
help manage those failures.”

At Dartmouth, the Big Green won 17 games and set a school record
for home runs in a season under her tutelage. Following her stint
at Harvard, Goodwin returned to Dartmouth as the Director of
Basketball Operations.

Prior to Harvard, Goodwin spent two seasons as the associate
head coach at San Jose State. In addition, she was the head coach
at Simmons College (2001-02) and the Massachusetts College of
Liberal Arts (1999-2000).

“Jen comes to Yale with exceptional credentials and a very
keen understanding of the Ivy League,” Athletics Director Tom
Beckett said. “Her career as a student athlete was
outstanding and her impact as a coach has likewise been
extraordinary.”

A four-year softball letterwinner at Bridgewater State, Goodwin
was a three-time All-American at first base, third base and
utility. Upon graduation, she ranked fifth in Division III career
home runs with 38 and held four career school records –
batting average (.464), doubles (46), home runs (38) and RBI (200).
She was the 1995 and 1996 ECAC Player of the Year and was inducted
into the Bridgewater State Hall of Fame in 2005.

Following graduation, she played for the Stratford Brakettes,
where she was a third-team ASA All-American at third base. Goodwin
also played two years on the USA Women’s National Baseball
team and worked as an instructor at various camps, including four
years as a head coach at the Nomar Garciaparra Baseball Camp.